It is oftentimes necessary to store a substance and later transfer a material from one receptacle to another and devices for accomplishing this end have heretofore been suggested and/or utilized (see, for example, allowed, copending United States patent application Ser. No. 833,067, commonly assigned to the assignee of this invention, which application is by this reference incorporated herein in its entirety, the issue fee having been paid on June 9, 1987). Such devices have also been heretofore suggested for permitting transfer of drug compoents from a storage receptacle to a delivery receptacle, such as a syringe, and such devices have included vent means to facilitate material transfer when the storage receptacle is retained upright below the vent passage (see, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,230,112, 4,303,071, and 4,317,448), as well as penetrating units, for example needles and the like, attachable to a syringe for access to the storage receptacle.
Transfer devices have also been heretofore suggested and/or utilized for transferring a diluent from one storage receptacle to a drug retained in a second storage receptacle, and such devices have included an air vent with a filter therein to vent the receptacle positioned below the vent passage (see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,938,520).
While devices have heretofore been suggested and/or utilized for transferring various materials, including transfer of drug components, such devices have not proved to be completely successful in providing a sealing apparatus for a storage receptacle that also includes transfer to and from the receptacle under fully acceptable safe and sterile conditions, allowing the vent passage to be selectively positioned below the receptacle to be vented, preventing formation of a vacuum or back pressure which could hinder material transfer regardless of needed orientation to achieve the desired end and/or cause foreceful release of at least a portion of the contents of the storage receptacle upon access thereto and thus exposure of a user to potentially harmful substances.